Nightshade
Summary The leader of the U.A.M, the woman who started the revolution against the Omnics and will stop at nothing until they are destroyed. History Nightshade had a happy life before the crisis, she built a strong community within Middlesbrough and was seen as an idol but she never let her ego go to her head. She always saw herself as no different from the public and gained and gave a tremendous amount of respect towards anyone she met. These values of humanity were shared with her husband, daughter and son. But tragedy struck when her family was slaughtered by a bastion unit at the beginning of the crisis and Nightshade was forced to flee and leave the corpses of her family. This changed Nightshade forever, she became ruthless and brutal towards the Omics, none were spared. Nightshade was the first to contact Overwatch for help but they couldn't help and in retaliation, Nightshade formed the United Alliance of Middlesbrough in order to reclaim their homeland and after a 25-year war, she was able to reclaim her homeland with the help of Big Ben, Cobra and a legion of followers. At some point, she adopted two teenagers, Castor and Hemlock and raised them into becoming skilled Warriors. Over time the U.A.M began to erode and became nothing more than an elite crime family and members began to leave in either favour of peace with the Omnics or because they realised what the U.A.M has become. Nightshade bitterly retired with only Big Ben being the only loyal general who stayed by her side, with the second crisis on the horizon she began recruiting members for the U.A.M in order to protect her home. Appearance Nightshade has short grey hair and is the second tallest woman in the U.A.M and has piercing blue eyes. She is muscular, broad-shouldered and is physically imposing. She wears black jeans which have a walkie-talkie attached to them. She also wears a zipped up black leather jacket with a tucked in grey shirt which has its top button undone. She also wears black combat boots and grey tactical gloves. She also wears her wedding ring as a necklace which has the inscription "Only you" on it. Personality Nightshade is a brilliant general, she's known for her unshakeable loyalty, generosity, courage and sophistication. She's ruthless to the omnics and inspirational to her people. Nightshade uses her logistical mind on the battlefield and leads the U.A.M with pride and strictness. She's known to be merciful and somewhat honourable with her gang and only condones violence if it's towards the omnics. She's known for providing a strong, stable and popular leadership within the U.A.M. Nightshade remains a humble figure, despite the number of followers under her wing. She refuses to become mayor or an overall political figure because she believes that Middlesbrough can govern itself. Nightshade is known for her ruthlessness and vengeful ambition, she desires to eradicate and exile all omnics from Middlesbrough, her campaigns were known to be brutal and nightmarish. She also has a sense of arrogance since she refuses to accept help from Overwatch, Talon and the government since she blames them for the deaths of her family and for the destruction of her home. She also believes that only she can lead the U.A.M, nobody else. For this reason, people believe the U.A.M will die with Nightshade. Deep down, her reign was defined by the loss of her family and she deeply misses them. Nightshade has a high opinion of herself and her image, she's highly charismatic, not afraid to take matters into her own hands and doesn't mess around with the likes of omnics, Overwatch or Talon. Weapons Nightshade has a Colt AR-15 assault rifle, it has 30 rounds and does 15 points of damage per shot. Playstyle Nightshade has to be played as part of a pack. She's able to strengthen her allies and boost their endurance. If she dies within their radius then they are healed by 150 points. Passive Ability: Martyr When Nightshade dies with nearby teammates. They are healed by 150 points, alternatively, if they are at full health or reach full health with points remaining, they are placed as a temporary shield. Teammates must be within 15m to gain this effect and ability will not activate if Nightshade isn't killed by an enemy player or when she falls off a platform. Abilities Nightshade is the second support hero to be unfocused on healing based offensive abilities but Nightshade offers boosts to attack and damage resistance which acts similarly to Lucio's abilities. The first is Symmetra. * '''Powerhouse: '''Nightshade boosts to the attack power of her teammates by 35% when they are within her 10-meter radius. This acts continuously and has no cooldown. * '''Glacier: '''Nightshade boosts to the damage resistance of her teammates by 35% when they are within her 10-meter radius. This acts continuously and has no cooldown. * '''Vigil: '''Nightshade can give an ally an armour pack. The armour pack has 140 points but she can't collect scrap or generate armour simultaneously. This ability takes 14 seconds to recharge. Ultimate '''Vox Populi: '''Nightshade increases the attack power and damage resistance of all heroes within the 30-meter radius by 50%. This lasts for 7 seconds. Reference *In the build-up for Nightshade's appearance, there have been spray painted messages added to Kings Row reading "Don't go. The Bitch is back". The bitch is back is a reference to Poppy from Kingsman: The Golden Circle. *Her voice-line "We're the shepherds, not the savages" is from the Far Cry 3 trailer for Vaas and Buck. *Doomfist's interaction "Have you been tending to your hounds?" is a reference to Skyrim. *Her voice-line "Release the hounds" is a reference to The Simpsons. *Her interaction with Zenyatta "Do you also know that the human eye can see more shades of green than any other colour?". This is a reference to Lorne Malvo from season 1 of Fargo. Trivia * Susan Silo was chosen as Nightshade's voice actress because of her role as Vallory from Tales From the Borderlands. * When paired with Red Hood, they make a reference to Red Riding Hood. She's also fearfully known as "The Big Bad Wolf" by the omnics. * In the development of her lore, Bastion was intended to be the killer of Nightshade's family but it didn't make sense in how Bastion ended up in Germany and how she would recognise it. The lore was redesigned for Bastion to be Nightshade's everlasting reminder of her family's death. * Her skins "Hati" and "Skoll" are in reference to Norse mythology. The titular wolves were spellbound by Odin to chase the sun and moon after they refused to fulfil their duties. * Nightshades full name translates to "Rules the home holy lord of the wolves" * Nightshade is a type of poisonous plant that has unpredictable effects. * Winston regards Nightshade and the U.A.M as a splinter faction of Talon due to their power and political influence. Despite Nightshade's hatred for them. * According to Farrow, Nightshade is known as "The Uncrowned Queen" because of her political powers despite having no authority in the town.